Almost 19 years ago I bit the bullet and purchased a brand-new Vision Fitness X6200HRT foldable elliptical trainer for the hefty sum of $2,320.92 (including sales tax). Weary of crowded health clubs, I had decided to turn my den into a mini-gym where I could enjoy mindless action shows on my big-screen television while sweating it out during cardio routines. Just the other day I celebrated a milestone, albeit a minor one, when I completed my 1,000th workout on that same Vision Fitness elliptical.

Somewhat analogous to the six decades it took me to log 250 scuba dives, the average of 53 or so sessions annually on my home machine is nothing to brag about. But note that I ended up joining fitness centers (both fancy and basic) again during those years, and often took advantage of the sturdier “professional” equipment available in their facilities. (The Precor ellipticals with adjustable incline, a feature common to treadmills that allows you to work different leg muscles as well as glutes, are perennial favorites of mine. When I’m in town, the Matrix machine that I ride once a week at the nearby Planet Fitness — where I also do resistance training three times a week — is decidedly mediocre.) Since the pandemic, and with the rise of streaming media, I’ve been using my home elliptical more regularly.

For a foldable machine meant for home gyms, the long-discontinued X6200HRT has proved very durable, operating more or less flawlessly from the outset. That’s more than I can say about its predecessor, a bulky Reebok Personal Trek elliptical that failed after 733 sessions in less than five years. It’s interesting (to me, at least) that, as of right now, the cost per use for both comes out almost identically to about $2.30.

To avoid overheating during workouts, I cool my den with its powerful through-the-wall air conditioner, assisted by a large ceiling fan and three different movable fans. To hear what I’m watching on my 55-inch Sony OLED television I wear JBL over-the-ear wireless headphones connected to an Apple TV streaming box, with the loudspeakers muted. If the entertainment is engaging enough, the cardio session passes very quickly.

Ellipticals have always appealed to me because their motion is low-impact and involves the whole body, upper and lower, unlike stationary bikes and treadmills. During workouts I wear a tried-and-true Polar T34 heart-rate transmitter, which both my Vision Fitness elliptical and the weathered Suunto Vector HR on my left wrist can still read.

My sole routine is with the “HRT Hill” program for a total of 35 minutes: 30 minutes forward followed by a cool-down interval of five minutes (which I do in reverse). I strive to reach or exceed my current theoretical maximum heart rate of 152 — simplistically calculated as 220 minus your age — at the apex of the workout. This formula implies that a person’s peak heart rate should deteriorate by approximately one beat for each year of life. (Note that I don’t pay as much attention to distance and caloric data, as they seem less meaningful or reliable to me.)

Curiously, when I began using this home elliptical in July 2006 at the age of 49, I averaged 150 beats per minute during a typical session. In the latest series I’m averaging 136 b.p.m., an erosion of just 14 over 19 years. In the echocardiogram stress test I underwent last month, my functional capacity was rated “excellent,” as I achieved 169% of the predicted exercise duration for age and gender with a peak heart rate of 154 b.p.m. Even my cardiologist was impressed.

And for that, my trusty Vision Fitness X6200HRT elliptical trainer deserves much credit.